Freight-handling apparatus



July 28, 1925 A. c. VAN DER GRAAF ET AL FREIGHT HANDLING APPARATUS Filed. Nov. 11, 1922 ii 6717 11611. Y ibis U01 vwl 1L5 wander g'llulj 20117205546 21/ Jime n/ Patented July 28, 1 925.

UNHEE FQTTES 1,5e7,536 r o Frice.

ARIE CORNELIS VAN DER GRAAF AND JOHANNES DE EUYTER, 0F ROTTERDAM, NETHEIELLANIJS.

FREIGHT-HANDLING APPARATUS.

Application filed November 11,, 1922. Serial No. 600,396.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that Anni ConNnLIs VAN our: GRAAF and JorrANNns nn RUYTER, subjects of the Queen of the Netherlands, both re siding at Rotterdam, Netherlands, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Freightd'iandling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved ap paratus for discharging or unloading packages from freight cars, or other carriers, and more particularly ships, and delivering said packages at a distance from said carriers, the object of the invention being to provide an apparatus of this character whereby the employment of manual labor in the unload.- ing and loading of vessels and freight cars is reduced to a minimum.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features of construction and combination of parts which will be more fully described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional side view of a warehouse or freight shed and a vessel docked adjacent thereto in position to be unloaded, and illustrating the shed equipped with our improved apparatus, the roof of the shed serving as a support for the apparatus; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the shed, illustrating the arrangement of track rails for the movable platforms.

The same characters of reference designate the same parts in the different figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 2 designates a portable jib crane mounted for travel on rails 12 carried by a gantry structure 16 supported at one side thereof on a rail 3 secured on the roof of a warehouse or freight shed and at the opposite side on a leg 14: running on a ground rail 15 extending parallel with the freight shed. Supported on rails 9 extending longitudinally of the freight shed, are platforms 8 in the same horizontal plane as the crane platform. The

platforms 8 carry at their upper sides rails disposed to register with the rails 12 of the gantry structure, whereby the platforms 8 may be shifted on the rails 9 and placedin alinement so as to form a continuous track for permitting the crane 2 to travel entirely across the warehouse.

The roof of the warehouse is provided with a plurality of windows 5, and also a plurality of openings 7 throughwhich the goods may be dropped into the shed or Warehouse from the crane, said openings being adapted to be closed by means of hinged it s 6.

The warehouse may be provided with additional cranes 11 adapted to travel on tracks disposed within the warehouse immediately below the roof, and which cranes can be used for stacking or distributing the goods delivered through the openings 7 by the crane 2. Y

It is believed that the operation of the ap paratus will be clear from the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawings Assuming that the contents of a vessel 1 or freight cars 17 are to be loadedinto freight cars 10 located on tracks at the side of the freight sheds opposite from the vessel, the platforms 8 are placed in position to form a continuous track for the crane across the shed in the manner hereinbefore described. Tlee crane, after having been placed in the position shown in Fig. 1, first hoists the goods out of the vessel and is then caused to travel over the platforms 8 until it arrives at the proper position for discharging its load into the cars 10. On the other hand, if the goods are to be stored in the freight sheds, the crane, after having hoisted the goods out of the vessel, is merely turned on its pivot to bring it into position to de liver the goods to the first series of openings 7.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by means of our improvements the goods are directly delivered to the freight cars or other carriers, or to the warehouse, by the same hoisting apparatus by means of which they were lifted out of the original carrier, thus eliminating any intermediate handling. Moreover, the entire operation is carried on above the warehouse, thus avoiding congestion on the street level. It will also be seen that in the operation of the apparatus the only manual labor employed is that necessary to place the goods into position to be gripped by the crane and for releasing them from said crane, and an engineer for operwi e e ra e Having thus described our invention, What we claim is:

1. In a cargo handling apparatus, a goods shed, a .displaceable gantry structure, a jib crane travelling thereon, a platform independent of said gantry crane, said platform being adapted to travel on the roof of said shed, tracks on said platform adapted to be brought into alinement with the tracks on the gantry, said goods shed carrying tracks both for the gantry and for the platform. additional cranes travelling on tracks, sai tracks being disposed Within the shed immediately below the inner side of the roof.

2. In a cargo handling apparatus, a goods shed, a displaceable gantry crane, a displaceable platform, said gantry at one end being supported by the roof of the goods shed, said shed carrying tracks both for the gantry and for the platform, said tracks being arranged in such direction on said roof as to permit the platform to be displaced on said roof in alinement with the gantry, the roof of the shed being provided with openings for dropping the goods into the shed and for removing same therefrom, additional cranes travelling on tracks, said tracks being disposed within the shed immediately below the roof.

In testimony whereof We have afiixed our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

ARIE CORNELIS VAN DER GRAAF. JOHANNES DE RUYTER. Witnesses:

FR. MAGNEA HENRY BALL. 

